Here Isabella is in her Easter dress (a lovely hand-me-down from her cousin Theresa).
Isabella and her Daddy right after mass on Easter Sunday. I had to snap the picture quickly before Dom’s suit disappeared.
Isabella and her Easter “basket” from Grandma Bettinelli. The basket contained plastic beach toys which will come in handy this summer. No candy, though. Maybe next year she can go on the egg hunt with her cousins and acquire a big stash.
If she’s not a clamper already, the teeth probably won’t inhibit nursing. My first daughter cut her first teeth at 9 months, after about three months of perceptible discomfort. She nursed without incident until she decided to stop at 13 months. I’m more worried about the baby, who at 7 months has made me consider weaning several times because of her clamping. She has two teeth now, and it almost seems to make her less likely to clamp while nursing. Now biting the shoulder is quite another thing…
Hey there! You do not have to stop nursing merely because of teeth. In the US it is recommended to nurse your baby for a minimum of a year and the World Health recommends minimum 2 yrs.
If your baby bites down while nursing, your reaction will be to pull her away. Don’t do that. Instead push her face into your breast so that she cannot breath. She will quickly let go and no damage will be done. Also, she will learn super fast not to do it. I learned this technique from a La Leche Leaguer.
Another technique is to put her on the floor immediately when she bites you. Don’t look, don’t smile. Babies are very smart and will learn quickly. I personally never used this technique because the first one worked so well for us.
I nursed my daughter until she weaned herself at 20 months. I miss it.
Oh, I wasn’t thinking of weaning just because of teething and I’ve read up on techniques for halting biting behavior. It’s just a struggle I’d rather not have. So far she hasn’t been much of a clamper. Only once I can recall. My biggest problem, once we got past the initial latching on issues has been her pinching. She really likes to dig her nails into my breast or my arm or whatever bare skin she can find. Ouch!
RCM, I know you don’t have to wean because of teeth. But this second baby has been super difficult. With the first, I screamed in pain the first time she bit down. She never did it again. This one has repeatedly bitten down. Screaming makes her laugh. I tried putting her down, and unfortunately she must have been finished nursing because she just started playing and clapping her hands. One time, she wouldn’t let go for anything, when I tried the hugging technique, and eventually I had to flick her cheek with my fingers. I HATE inflicting pain on my babies, but I had to get her OFF. I felt so terrible after that that I started to wonder whether I should be nursing any more. Thankfully, as soon as the first two teeth cut, she stopped clamping. I have never been thankful before for her early teething, but I am now.